Demon Hunter
by Whimsical Symphony
Summary: AU. Lucy is a student who wonders if her father cares about her after he forbids her from summoning celestial spirits and gives her the cold shoulder. While staying late in the art studio, she is attacked by a spirit and nearly killed. She is saved by demon and ghost hunting guild, Fairy Tail, who she then joins. While destroying evil beings, she finds a warm family. Gray/Lucy
1. Chapter I - The Poltergeist

**Demon Hunter**

_Written by Whimsical Symphony_

**Summary:** AU. Lucy Heartfilia, a fine arts student at Magnolia University, lives life normally, away from things like magic, demons and spirits since her own mother, a celestial mage, died while attempting to exorcize a spirit. Since then, her father forbade her from using magic because it reminds him of his late wife. Lucy, however, brings her mother's keys with her everywhere, as if they'll bring her comfort. Upon staying late in the deserted art studio overnight to work on her project, Lucy is attacked by a spirit and blacks out from an injury to the head. After waking up, she finds herself in the respected guild, Fairy Tail, who took care of her in her unconscious state. Learning that members Natsu and Gray saved her, she joins the guild to be true to herself and use magic the way it was supposed to be used – to help people. She wants no one else to feel the same fear she felt in the art studio and dedicates her time to join team Natsu to fight evil spirits and solve mysteries, to fight those to seek to control evil spirits, gaining an unexpected, loving family in the process. Gray/Lucy

Hello! This is my newest story. I really couldn't resist, as I wanted to write a Fairy Tail fanfiction for the longest time. Combining elements of horror, I suppose, and adventure, it will be something unexpected for a story out of this fandom. But it is an AU, so it is allowed to be different. All personalities will be the same, don't you worry. Gray will still strip, Natsu will still have motion sickness. Both will fear Erza. They will also have the same magic they currently have… except now it's used to exorcize ghosts. You can expect battles, but most probably not the crazy battles like in Fairy Tail. It will destroy the eeriness I'll be going for sometimes. This will be a Gray/Lucy fanfiction because I adore that pairing. Not that I don't like Natsu as a character, because I do, I just do think Gray and Lucy make the more perfect pair.

* * *

**Chapter I – The Poltergeist**

Lucy looked at the keys she placed on the table beside her canvas. The gold and silver shone like stars straight from the night sky. She reached out and touched the metal softly – still warm, as if life pulsed through invisible veins beneath the metallic surface, the only comfort she had these days.

"I wonder what all of you would act like if I summoned you?" she whispered, the thought all too tempting. "I wonder what Papa would say if I summoned you…" That caused her to frown. It was the same every time, what her father would say, what her mother would think from heaven. She didn't want to hurt her father by summoning them, so she didn't. Even if that made her lonely, like home, like if she walked into a room all by herself and it shut behind her with a resounding thump, isolating her from the world. Lucy shook her head, attempting to clear the morbid thoughts accumulating there. "I can't think that now, I'm wasting time."

She let her brush become soaked with green acrylics, then white and blue as she let her mind go, free from all worries as she painted the backyard from her childhood, so similar yet so different, warmer in the picture than it was in real life. Lucy imagined her mother, a pretty red rose in her hair, dressed in an elegant white sundress, sipping tea and reading an old novel full of fairy tales as the grass swayed in the gentle breeze and the scent of wild flowers wafted in the air.

Lucy sat in the studio by herself, all the others gone home as time passed. The light from that room shone brightly while the hallway lay in complete darkness. Lucy wanted to feel safe in the studio, but couldn't. The creaks of her own chair set her on edge as they echoed in the large room like cackles of a wicked witch across all surfaces, the squeaks of her shoes as she shifted her feet, the witch's familiar.

Lucy stopped painting. Sweat dribbled down her chin. Her muscles stopped working and her brush fell to the ground with a deafening _clack._ Eyes drilled into her back. She turned around so harshly, her chair fell to the ground. No one was behind her.

"What?" Lucy muttered to herself. "I must be imagining things. After all, it's an art studio – I'm perfectly safe here." She chuckled nervously, as if trying to persuade her own mind. "Right?" she squeaked.

The chair began to shake terribly by itself on the floor, causing Lucy to inch back in fear. The lights around her began to turn off and on at a rapid pace. Lucy snatched her keys off the table and clutched them to her chest, as if they would save her. Suddenly though, when Lucy backed herself into a corner of the room, far away from the chair, the shaking stopped. Just before she let herself a sigh of relief, the switch turned off, enclosing the room in darkness. The rumbling began again, the chairs all around the room where students sat previously and the tables too. Her canvas with the peaceful meadow fell off during the earthquake underneath it and plummeted to the ground.

"_Lucy…"_

"_Lucy…"_

"_**Lucy!**__"_

Lucy heard her name all around her, many voices all blended together like paint on a palette, though shoddily done as they seemed raspy, like static on a radio. Laughs followed that and the shaking in the room became worse. Chairs flung themselves at the wall, becoming many pieces by the end, and the vases near the windows spontaneously combusted. The laughing got louder and louder.

"W-what's happening?" she asked herself fearfully, breathing heavily, cowering in the corner, trying to make herself as small as possible in the room so that she wouldn't be affected by the havoc around them. When the table she leant against was picked up by the air itself and flung itself directly against the wall behind her, she stood up and ran. Lucy slapped her own face. "Okay, Lucy, you have to be calm and get out of this." She looked at her keys which seemed to offer her some solace. "I couldn't summon any of you. I don't know what you can do…"

Running to the door, she quickly placed her hands on the handle, pulling. Before she managed to get the lock undone, a force pulled her away from it, from the arms and threw her against the wall like a ragdoll. The laughing got even more malicious as she hit the wall and screamed in pain and her joints released a sickening crunch. She slid down and held her head with her uninjured arm. Pain shot up from her arm to her head and she wondered if she'd broken anything. Lightly feeling hair hairline, a red substance collected on the pads of her fingers – blood. A thin trail of it from her head flowed downward. The metallic taste against her tongue as well. She wondered how beaten up she looked.

"I'm sure I still look cute," Lucy said aloud, trying to comfort herself by indulging in, hopefully not her last, vain thought. She held her keys to her. "I'm sorry for being such a pathetic owner. Not even getting to meet you all even once."

"_Lucy..,"_

"_Lucy…"_

"_**Lucy! Lucy! Lucy!**__"_

The name calling started again with the same, almost childlike voices. "Damn it," she muttered. Trying to get up, she failed, sinking back down from against the wall. Her legs hurt too from the fall. Tears collected in the corner of her eyes, wondering what was happening. Some kind of demon or spirit plagued the art studio of Magnolia University? She knew they existed because mages often exorcized them from guilds. They often killed people, so guilds were necessary and some were incredibly well known. But for one to be an art studio? It was unfathomable.

Lucy winced when she attempted to move her arms. She wondered if she was going to die here. It seemed a firm possibility when a chair crashed directly into her, hitting her full force in the torso and injured arm. She pushed it away weakly, noting that it was a good prediction. She wondered why a peaceful night doing her art turned into something like this with her arm bent at an awkward angle, her head bleeding and her torso about to show a major, dark bruise which would blemish her perfect, in her mind, skin. Her vision was blurry as well.

Suddenly, everything stopped the room still in darkness but no rattling of the objects inside.

The laughter turned into moans, deep and terrifying, synchronized like a pair of ballet dancers. Faces formed in the darkness, manifesting from seemingly nowhere. Her blood ran cold as she saw _it_.

"_Lucy…"_ it called, an ugly brown head floating in the air, about the size of a bookshelf. Its putrid flesh hung loosely against bone and raw, angry pink scars covered its surface. It's wide, fang-like teeth lay in disarray in its mouth, yellow and rotting. Its hair hung sadly like the branches of a weeping willow, greasy and unkempt. But its eyes – they were the most frightening of all. Blood red, no pupils, no irises, yet she knew it stared directly at her.

"**Lucy..."** it called again and its hideous mouth twisted into a grin.

Lucy felt the last bit of strength leave her and blacked out, her head hitting the hard surface flooring harshly.

She wondered if she died. She could have sworn she heard someone speaking to her in her sleep, a panicked, kind voice: not the spirit.

"_Oi, wake up!"_ The voice paused. _"I guess the spirit did more harm than we thought."_

* * *

When Lucy awoke, she found it to be a painful ordeal. Her muscles were stiff and her entire body ached like a train hit her, full force. She half expected herself to be in the art studio, still cowering by herself as the spirit tormented her. Then, she expected it to all be a dream, in which she'd wake up in her own bed and realize it was her mind running wild again. A last possibility also remained. She could have been dead. She didn't want to humour that thought at all.

Lucy groaned in pain. "Ah, you're awake!" a voice said, female, light and airy, musical like wind chimes blowing carefree in the spring breeze.

She opened her eyes slowly and turned her head to the side. A woman sat down on a chair beside the bed she currently laid on, wavy silver hair, a cheerful smile and dreamy blue eyes: a face which Lucy found all too familiar.

"M-M-Mirajane Strauss?" she stuttered, in awe of the woman in front of her. Mirajane answered with a smile. She moved her arm and attempted to rub her eyes to check if she was dreaming, but yelped in pain. "I suppose I'm not dreaming now, am I?"

A valid question indeed since Mirajane Strauss was one of Fiore's most beautiful women, often having photos displayed in the Sorcerer Magazine. Lucy admired the woman greatly. She currently worked with the prestigious guild of mages, Fairy Tail, in order to fight evil spirits and demons. Lucy, however, could never imagine Mirajane fighting. She seemed like a delicate flower.

"Ah, you shouldn't try to move," Mirajane said worriedly. "Wendy fixed up all your wounds, but they'll still need time to heal properly."

"What happened?" Lucy asked quietly, relaxing back on the mattress. She could clearly remember that face, disfigured, teeth rotting. The very thought of it made her shudder with fear even though it was no longer here. It called her name and looked as though it were about to devour her. The thought made her wince. And her keys, she still felt them in her pocket now – thank goodness.

"A spirit haunted your art studio and tried to eat you. It seemed like it would be a regular poltergeist, but that face you saw… it was no normal poltergeist," Mirajane explained, clasping her hands together, looking at Lucy's distraught, confused face. She hoped she could alleviate the girl's pain. All the bandages meant she was thrown around quite a bit. "We had a mission to eliminate the same poltergeist. Gray and Natsu found you and brought you back here."

"Natsu Dragneel and Gray Fullbuster?" she asked. Mirajane nodded. Another set of well-known names, famous ones in Fairy Tail.

Natsu Dragneel was known as Fairy Tail's Salamander – a rare practitioner of Dragon Slayer magic in the form of fire. His constant companion was an odd, talking cat named Happy. Both were generally known as happy, jovial individuals who often tried to just make people feel happy with small things in the neighborhood. He caused an awful lot of collateral damage on his missions, however.

Gray Fullbuster practiced ice creation magic and was about on par with Natsu in terms of power. He also tried not to cause as much collateral damage on missions, and succeeded, though compared to other members of Fairy Tail it was quite a bit. He also remained quite popular with the ladies, like Natsu, even though they both were oblivious.

The door slammed open and in walked two other people Lucy thought she would never see, one with flaming pink hair and a cheerful grin, and the other a handsome male with dark hair and a perpetual frown.

"Ah, you're awake!" the pink haired one said, turning to her. Natsu, Lucy knew already. "I thought it would take a lot longer." He grinned at her. He turned to Mirajane. "Good job looking after her, Mira!" He gave her a thumbs up. Mirajane smiled back at him.

"Of course it wouldn't. Wendy healed her, remember? She was bound to regain consciousness soon, anyway. She wasn't injured _that _badly," the dark haired one, Gray said, crossing his arms. He looked at Lucy then, a small smile on his lips. "I'm glad you're okay though. I thought you were dead when I first saw you there, to be honest."

Lucy flushed, seeing his toned, exposed chest. Gray looked at her questioningly.

"Stop trying to look cool, Ice Block – your clothes are gone again," Natsu pointed to the shirt and pants now strewn across the ground.

"Shit!" The man just in his boxers quickly put on the clothes, and crossed his arms, pretending nothing just occurred.

When Lucy looked at them all with confusion, Natsu elaborated. "He has a stripping fetish," he said teasingly, turning to the man beside him who decided that punching him in the head would be suitable punishment. Natsu gave him a death glare.

Lucy chuckled. She didn't expect the members of Fairy Tail to be so odd. She supposed she was dehumanizing them in a way, expecting idols. But this was nice, though she wasn't exactly used to it. Her own home had been cold, no affection after her own mother died. The three people in front of her gave her more affection than she experienced for nearly ten years.

The thought of leaving people who gave her affection made her feel so lonely.

"Thank you all for saving me. I never thought that I could be attacked in an art studio – how random," Lucy told them, a sheepish grin on her face. Pain shot through her arm again and she winced. "It really did a number on me."

Lucy could still feel the pain she felt when the chair had hit her and when she was flung against the wall so carelessly.

"It's no problem," Gray said simply. Natsu nodded his head in agreement. "It would be shameful if we just left you there, not only to us, but to Fairy Tail as well."

Lucy was happy. Mirajane looked at her for a moment. "I was wondering though. I feel magical power coming from you. Are you a mage?"

"What, really?" Natsu exclaimed, a look of awe upon his face. "What kind of magic can you do?" And he rushed to her bedside. Gray followed behind, sighing at Natsu's antics.

Lucy wondered if she even had the right to be called that. True she had magical power, true she could use it, but she never did. She felt the keys in her pocket, wondering if her spirits hated her. They would, considering she never opened the gate once for them, never greeted them, all because her own father scared her. And she didn't want to hurt him by resembling her mother, to have him lock her in a room to never see a human face again. With his influence, it was a possibility. No one would tell anyone else and it would go on with Lucy trapped like Rapunzel in a tower. Her spirits remained her only friends even though she never saw them. She could feel Taurus' security, Virgo's reliability, Gemini's playful nature among many others. It grew harder and harder for her to resist it – she felt it was unfair of her to continue to be a celestial mage when the keys jingled uselessly while attached to her belt like house keys.

When she thought of another human feeling the same way she did, trapped alone to wait for a spirit or demon to devour them, Lucy felt guilty. Maybe it happened multiple times right under her very nose and she ignored it unconsciously, so as not to deal with the pressure of summoning her spirits.

Tears collected in the corner of her eyes and Natsu and Gray, in response, both panicked.

"Are you… crying?" Gray asked slowly as if she were now a ceramic vase, ready to break at any time. Natsu looked just about as shocked and confused.

"I'm not…" Her tears betrayed her though when they flowed freely down her face like rivers.

Mirajane looked at her sympathetically and grabbed a small handkerchief. In a sisterly manner with a gentle smile, she wiped away the tear tracks and waited until she calmed down. "Celestial magic? I saw the keys when they brought you here. You have quite a few of the twelve golden keys." What she said sounded as soft as ever, and Lucy remembered why exactly she admired Mirajane. Not only was she beautiful, but kind as well. Mirajane dedicated herself to those in Magnolia, helping the poor, sometimes even accepting requests in distant cities for no money at all.

"I've never called them. Papa forbade it," Lucy said softly, clasping her own hands, looking at the bed spread. She found it hard to face them, to tell them what exactly was wrong, but if she looked at the comforting cloth embracing her, it felt a little better. She wouldn't have to look at their eyes, their expressions. "Mama died while trying to exorcize a ghost. These keys were hers. Papa doesn't want me to become like her." But even when she said it, she wondered if her Papa just wanted her to suffer, to not see her friends. He always gave the excuse that he didn't want her to die, to not summon her spirits under any circumstances. But that left her defenceless, didn't it?

"You mean, your dad doesn't let you use magic?" Natsu frowned. "But a mage _has_ to use their magic. It's bad when you don't use something you were born with." He truly was worried about her. "Does your dad know that?"

Mirajane put a comforting hand on her shoulder while Gray looked at her with pity.

"I don't know," Lucy whispered. "And when I think about someone else going through the same thing as me in the art studio…" Lucy swallowed thickly and felt heat course through her veins, unbearably hot. It was fear in physical form. The face still haunted her. _Lucy_, it called in that twisted, malevolent voice. The face disappeared from her mind entirely. A chill cooled her when she felt a pressure on her shoulder, Mirajane's hand already removed. Looking up, she noticed Gray. She gave him a smile of thanks, to which he didn't reply, only removing his hand. She somewhat missed the chill. Lucy wondered how he knew that her heart burned with so many emotions. "This place, with people I don't even know, is warmer than my own home," she said bitterly.

"Then, what's stopping you?" Gray asked her curiously. "If your family is colder than this one and your own dad's stopping you from using magic, why not join this one?"

"Gray, that's the first good idea you've had in a while," Natsu told him, getting punched in the face for doing so. Natsu only punched him back, full force.

"Look who's talking, Flame Brain. You're pretty much Fairy Tail's resident moron," Gray retorted. The two glared at each other.

"Now, now you two, this isn't time to be fighting," Mirajane told them calmly, wide smile on her face. She placed on hand on each of their shoulders and the two froze. "If you continue, I'll call Erza here." The two paled noticeably and stopped throwing punches at one another, looking away from Mirajane's gaze. The woman looked pleased. She turned to Lucy. "They are right though. We would love it if you would like to join us."

Lucy found herself thinking about the keys with the friends she wanted so badly to meet, to her own father who didn't give a damn about her. She wondered when she'd gotten so weak as to simply go along with everything he said without a single independent thought to spare. She clutched the keys in her hand and thought of her mother who would tell her to go grab happiness with her own two hands, to do what her heart told her to and deal with the consequences later. That calming smile on her mother's face – she wondered when she lost track of it, so blinded, only listening to her father's words. Her mother would be ashamed. Hopefully this would repent for forgetting her mother's wishes, for forgetting her voice.

Lucy found herself agreeing, to also stop those who were in a similar situation as her from suffering.

"Thank you, I'd like that." She gave them all a radiant smile. "Lucy Heartfilia, celestial mage extraordinaire, at your service!"

"As soon as you join, I declare you a member of Team Natsu!" Natsu said firmly. Lucy smiled and agreed.

"I still can't believe that people know our team as that," Gray admitted, crossing his arms.

Mirajane chuckled.

The three introduced themselves and gave her apt handshakes. Natsu's and Gray's were both firm while Mirajane's was comforting. Lucy wondered at the turn of events that caused her to meet a loving family, how she suddenly had luck where she didn't before. Though she feared the spirits, she had her new family with her – a family which actually gave a damn about her unlike her own father who could care less if she died.

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_Words: 3 504_


	2. Chapter II - The Guild

**Demon Hunter**

_Written by Whimsical Symphony_

_Hello, this is the next chapter of Demon Hunter. I thank you all for the support. Any comments and criticism is welcome, as I will try my best to make this story enjoyable for all of you. As soon as they leave on the mission next time, this is when Gray and Lucy will actually begin to talk a little more._

_Quick edit: I thank you Anon reviewer for letting me know of my grammatical mistake! I'm glad you took the time to let me know. I wouldn't want that out there for good._

* * *

**Chapter II – The Guild  
**

Lucy followed Mirajane nervously, limping all the while and with her left arm still wrapped in a cast. The woman let her know that she would have to talk to Master Makarov if she wished to join Fairy Tail. Idly, Lucy wondered if she made the right decision. Did her reasoning seem selfish? Perhaps, but she couldn't live off the meagre warmth her family provided. She needed to get that simple affection in any way possible instead of dealing with the painful hot emotions pooling in her heart, travelling like unrestricted torrents all through her body until she felt like weeping, her fists shaking with such rage and passion.

"_As soon as you join, I declare you a member of Team Natsu!"_ the male said with a grin. She hadn't felt so included for a long time.

"_If your family is colder than this one and your own dad's stopping you from using magic, why not join this one,"_ the other suggested, looking honestly curious about her choices not to run away from home. She wondered too, what stopped her from not running away for all this time, for not just telling her father to just screw off.

Maybe she hoped her father would grow to love her. It never happened. How did he get a kind woman like her Mama, Lucy thought dryly, they seemed like the most unfitting pair.

"Master! I have a guest!" Mirajane said cheerfully, walking into the main expanse of the guild, Fairy Tail.

Lucy looked in awe at how rowdy everyone was, how cheerful. A woman sat cross legged on a table and commented on how where she sat embodied the perfect date location for her and her boyfriend, gesturing to a giant barrel of beer beside her. She saw Gray fighting with Natsu near the back while others cheered. The talking cat, Happy, attempted to woo a female cat who blew him off harshly while talking to her companion, a cute little girl who smiled sheepishly. A curious girl with the brightest blue hair watched Gray from behind a pillar with eyes filled to the brim with admiration. These observations were a few among many odd occurrences she saw.

Then she saw _her _S-Class mage of Fairy Tail, a strict disposition, an almost ice-cold type of beauty who walked toward them, her armour clinking together in even intervals while she walked. Eyes followed her from all edges of the room. This was Erza Scarlet – another woman Lucy admired.

"Mira, who's that with you?" she asked, her voice smooth as silk.

"Erza Scarlet!" Lucy exclaimed. Her eyes filled with the same admiration that the strange woman who watched Gray had in her eyes. She couldn't believe she had Mirajane Strauss on one side of her and Erza Scarlet on the other. She never imagined ever meeting the two.

"It is good to meet you," Erza said with a nod, holding out her hand to shake. Lucy did so, shaking all the while from nervousness, fearing she'd do something stupid.

"I-it's good to meet you too!" Lucy replied, a look of awe upon her face, letting herself wonder if her beauty allowed her to meet such incredible people. That or her luck just took a better turn on the road of life.

"Erza! Lucy's hoping to join the guild. Master Makarov is here, isn't he?" Mirajane said with a smile.

"Not currently, he should be back in in a little while," Erza replied. Lucy blinked, then, almost just as Erza finished talking, the door to the guild burst open, which brought everyone to silence but two particular people who kept fighting. Lucy gulped heavily at the huge, shadowed form that somehow managed to get into the guild through the door. She nearly dropped her keys from shock.

"Master Makarov!" Mirajane exclaimed, not shaken in the least.

"M-M-M-Master Makarov?" Lucy squeaked and hid behind the woman who continued smiling as if a giant hadn't stood before them.

"Master Makarov, welcome back," Erza said with a nod. The same reaction as Mirajane, almost, Lucy noted. She looked at the two mages still fighting, throwing fists at each other, engaged in a full-out brawl.

"You think you can beat me in a fight, huh? Come and try it, Flame Brain!" Gray roared. He placed his hand on his shirt and ripped it off at a pace that would make a professional stripper proud.

Lucy began to realize why Natsu said he had a strange stripping fetish. She looked on at the scene with a sigh and a slight flush on her cheeks, somewhat getting used to the notion that if she were to join Fairy Tail, Gray Fullbuster would strip on a daily basis. Gray's half naked body (for hopefully he wouldn't go beyond that) tainted her pure, virgin eyes. She wondered why the two of them didn't notice the giant, Master Makarov behind them.

"Don't call Flame Brain, you Stripper!" Natsu barked back, getting ready to throw a punch at Gray. "Fire Dragon's-"

"Ice Make-" The two began to activate their respective magic. until both crashed into the wall of the Fairy Tail Guild without warning.

"My bet is on Natsu," one of the guild members whispered to his friend.

"Mine's on Gray!" another said, putting bills onto the table.

"Correct," a female voice said eerily, "there is no doubt that you are correct to support Master Gray." The two people betting paled and the one who supported Natsu instantly took his money back, opting to make a bet on Gray instead.

Bets proceeded well, until both crashed into the wall of the Fairy Tail Guild without warning.

"What do you two think you're doing!" Erza stated dangerously, her entire body glowing with immeasurable power. Lucy paled, now understanding why Erza held the position of one of Fairy Tail's strongest mages. Erza looked at the two with a disapproving glare. "It is shameful that you two fight when Master Makarov has been behind you. I told you two to get along!" She rushed forward, pulling the entirety of Gray's body with one hand and Natsu's with the other. She forced them together with a resounding _bang_, causing Lucy to wince. No one else in the Guild seemed to react, apparently used to it. Natsu and Gray clearly looked as if it hurt, but didn't dare make any complaints in front of Erza.

"We are getting along though, right Natsu?" Gray told her, uncharacteristically cheery as he hesitantly slung an arm around Natsu.

"Aye!" Natsu replied, a dumb grin on his face. Both clearly looked pained by having to get along with one another. The act even frightened Lucy who knew, even though she just met them, that their relationship depended on fighting with one another.

"Good," Erza replied, calming down, a slight smile on her lips. "This is how it should be." The two victims regained some of their lost colour, however it was too soon as a humungous foot came out of nowhere and crushed both Gray and Natsu. Erza kneeled before the giant. "Master Makarov – I sincerely apologize for my inability to keep these two in line!"

The foot removed itself from the injured forms of Gray and Natsu who both moaned in pain. Lucy watched all of this, not certain how to react. When she looked to Mirajane, she found the same smile on the woman's face. Lucy looked at her blankly, wondering if the woman had any other expression. Mirajane cocked her head and smiled, as if asking what she invested her deep thoughts into.

Before Lucy's eyes, the giant became smaller and smaller, till only a small, old man remained, a perfect bald head with a scarf of white hair and a magnificent mustache. Lucy couldn't help but let her jaw drop in amazement. His expression remained thoroughly annoyed as he looked at the significantly injured forms of Natsu and Gray.

"I hear you destroyed an entire wing of Magnolia University on your latest mission, _Natsu_," he turned to the frightened Dragon Slayer, "_Gray_," he glared pointedly at the Ice Mage whose facial expression twitched noticeably. They waited for the oncoming assault. "_We're already at odds with the Council – __**there's no need to make it worse!**_" His voice rose steadily in volume. The two cowered in fear in front of Makarov, until unexpectedly, he grinned, jumping onto the nearby bar counter. "But, who cares about the Council!" He pulled out a full glass of beer, courtesy of Mirajane.

When Natsu and Gray looked at Erza, she gave them a look which clearly said, 'you deserved it'.

Cheers resounded in the room as everyone figuratively clinked their glasses of ail in the air.

"Is this…is this what it means to be in Fairy Tail?" Lucy replied blankly, completely having her soul sucked out by such _unique_ surroundings.

"Yes," Mirajane responded with a smile. Lucy already felt exhausted. She walked toward the now-midget who enjoyed alcohol along with the others, though not as much as the lady who single-handedly finished five barrels all on her own. "Master, I brought a person who wants to join Fairy Tail. Gray and Natsu saved her in the art studio they destroyed," she said with a smile, as if art studios got destroyed every day.

Master Makarov turned toward Lucy who looked quite stiff, unsure as to if she should respond with a cute wave and a greeting, or if she should give it up and grovel before him on her hands and knees. "Okay, she can join," he said simply with a grin. "Welcome to Fairy Tail."

"What? That's it?" Lucy's eyed widened and she clearly looked to be in disbelief. "No special tests? No super dangerous, high-class monster to kill?"

"No," he replied. "Mira, the stamp." Lucy nearly cried from relief, feeling overjoyed she got to join Fairy Tail.

"Yes, Master," Mira replied and pulled out a brass stamp with a black handle. "Where would you like your stamp?" she inquired kindly.

Lucy thought about it, and then decided upon the back of her hand. She remembered that she took on the role of an artist quite seriously. Therefore, her hands held all her power, her expression, her individuality. That would also be where her Fairy Tail symbol lay, with pride where everyone could see it. Lucy smiled slightly. "The hand please."

She joined Fairy Tail and couldn't be happier about it.

* * *

"Ah, where are you staying now?" Mirajane asked her, cleaning out a few glasses from behind the counter.

Now that she thought about it, Lucy remembered staying in the dorms of Magnolia University, paying a monthly rent. Well, her wealthy father wired the money to the university. Now, in order to be part of Fairy Tail, she had to cut off all ties with him, which meant not using his money to stay in the dorms. Of course, she would continue her education, but to stay in the dorms was out of the question. She wondered how much money she had in her wallet, and unzipped her purse curiously. The results were little more than disappointing: not enough to sustain a down payment for renting a place nearby.

Lucy sighed, placing her chin on her hand as she leant on the table. "I've been living in my university dorms this whole time and my Papa took care of the payments. I don't have enough to rent a place on my own."

She never imagined saying anything like that in her life. Being part of the Heartfilia family meant that a shortage of money would never be an issue. Here she admitted to having a financial problem. It made her feel pathetic because admitting she had no money fully convinced her just how reliant she was on her father to provide for her.

"That's too bad. I could ask Erza if you would like to stay with her?" Mirajane offered. The thought seemed a little terrifying in all actuality, but enticing at the same time. After all, Erza was one of her heroes.

"So you have nowhere to stay now?" a voice said from beside her. Natsu sat on the seat beside her. Lucy turned to look at Natsu, who in turn just looked at her back. "You can stay with me if you want. After our first mission, you can rent your own place."

Lucy turned red, then redder, then even redder. Natsu Dragneel offered for her to stay with him. Her cuteness attracted all men, didn't it? But, a pure soul like her, a maiden shouldn't stay with a man. It was indecent-

"They liiiiikee each other," a voice teased. A blue cat landed on the counter and looked at Lucy with knowing eyes before smirking slyly.

"No!" Lucy defended. She looked at Natsu who blinked before grinning.

"Of course I like her! She's family now!" He pumped his fist into the air. Lucy sighed and Mirajane chuckled in amusement. Natsu gestured from the blue cat to Lucy. "Happy, this is Lucy – Lucy, this is Happy. Happy is my partner!"

"Aye sir!" the cat replied, saluting Natsu. He turned to Lucy and gave her a sly grin. Lucy thought the cat was pure evil.

"By the way, staying with Natsu probably isn't such a good idea. The inside of his place looks like a tornado went through it," Gray said as he plopped down in the other seat beside her. He sat, half naked of course, without the slightest care in the world.

Now that Lucy thought about it, Natsu did seem like the kind of person to destroy his entire home for something stupid. She could imagine it now, chairs toppled over, a broken bed, half eaten food not bothered to be cleaned up and tons and tons of clothes littering the place: dreaded underwear included. She shuddered and politely refused Natsu's offer who didn't seem to care much, affirming her theory that his house could be compared to a surreal fantasy.

"You could stay with me tonight if you want. We could take a mission for tomorrow to get your rent," Gray added, looking at her. He was still naked and thus, it sounded like some kind of dirty proposition. She really had no idea what to answer. His look was expectant, not for any positive answer, but just for some _kind_ of answer from her.

Lucy didn't know what to answer, so she stuck with the obvious, "Gray, your clothes."

"Gah!" Gray exclaimed, eying the room frantically for his lost articles of clothing. Lucy laughed, finding his stripping amusing now. Natsu held his shirt and pants in his hand, waving them in front of Gray mockingly before they, as expected, got into another brawl.

"Give me back my clothes, idiot!" Gray threw a punch at Natsu who crashed into Cana, Fairy Tail's drunk, she learned from Mirajane, whose beer doused Macao, the father of Romeo, a cute young boy who looked up to Natsu like a brother, which caused Levy, a very smart, small and not overly rowdy mage, to lose her books in the fray which then led to Gajeel, a Dragon Slayer and sort-of protector of Levy's to curse Natsu and hurl punches at the unsuspecting male, which led to a chain reaction which ultimately involved the entire guild getting into a brawl.

"Is this normal?" Lucy asked blinking, unsure where everyone was located in the massive onslaught of bodies slugging each other and roaring like a group of lions.

Mirajane nodded and smiled. "This is Fairy Tail."

Lucy had a feeling that would be the reasoning behind every odd thing which occurred in the guild.

Erza entered from a quick errand outside and suddenly, everyone stopped, pretending to get along quite well, though the pile of unconscious bodies near the walls and the damaged building told a completely different story. Erza glared and pinpointed her gaze toward Gray and Natsu who she walked toward predatorily.

She punched the two on the head harshly, looking upon them with satisfaction as they winced. Everyone else in the guild seemed to get back to what they were doing originally before the brawl. Lucy wondered how they could switch moods so quickly. Erza shoved a piece of paper in front of their faces: A job posting. "I heard your dilemma earlier. We all take Lucy out on this job tomorrow to help get money for her rent. In the meantime, she stays with me." Erza looked from one to the other, a disapproving look on her face.

"Yes Mistress Erza," the two replied in unison, sounding defeated.

Erza walked toward Lucy who didn't know whether to be frightened or happy. Well, perhaps happy since it seemed that Erza was close to the only normal person in Fairy Tail, it seemed. The older woman clasped Lucy's hands in her own.

"This will be our chance for female bonding, Lucy!" Erza stated with passion. "This will be our chance to become closer friends!" She looked at Lucy with an expectant glint in her eye and a smile which made Lucy's own wither.

"You're scaring her, Erza," Mirajane joked. Then, unexpectedly, tears fell from her blue eyes. "I wanted to bond with females too!"

Erza awkwardly tried to comfort Mirajane by bringing her to her chest. Mirajane's head crashed into Erza's plated armour, making her feel a bit woozy. "You are an occupant of the dorms as well, Mira – of course you can join."

Perhaps Erza wasn't so normal after all. Neither was Mirajane.

* * *

Erza Scarlet lived in Fairy Hills, the dormitory that most of Fairy Tail's female guild members lived in. Apparently it had history. A terrifying demon whom killed all its occupants for one-hundred years lived there before it became the female dormitory, but apparently Mavis Vermilion, the founding Guild Master of Fairy Tail, effortlessly exorcised it, then turned it into Fairy Hills. The thought of the demon who lived there many years prior made Lucy shudder.

They entered Erza's room which was, surprisingly, many, many times larger than the other ones she had seen. It looked almost like a medieval palace or some kind, what with all the suits of armour displayed on mannequins lined up along the walls and all the weapons hung up where paintings in other people's homes more likely were placed.

"Why is your place so big compared to everyone else's?" Lucy asked curiously, following behind Erza. She no longer feared the woman as much, seeing just how earnest the woman seemed to be with making friends, even though she was a bit awkward.

"This is actually five rooms put together," Erza replied, leading Lucy into another room with a bed, still lavishly decorated. "Here, this can be your room."

"But – your r-rent!" Lucy exclaimed in shock, wondering how much it must have cost to connect five rooms together.

"500 000 jewels monthly," Erza replied, not in the slightest bit frazzled by the high price. Lucy's soul left her right then. Would she ever be able to afford a place like this? Probably not. To be honest, she probably didn't even have the money to rent one room in the dorms. The thought made her sigh sadly. Erza put a set of pyjamas on the bed before turning to Lucy. "The bathroom is across the hall. You can shower if you want."

Lucy picked up the nightgown and turned ten shades of red. It was short, black and lacy – barely covering the essentials. She addressed Erza blushing and stuttering, "W-w-w-hat is t-t-his?

"A nightgown," she replied, unbothered again. "It's nice, isn't it?" Erza said with a smile, gesturing to the piece of cloth in her hands.

Somehow, Lucy knew attempting to say anything would not be comprehended by Erza who, shockingly, actually liked skimpy nightwear. Maybe she liked skimpy daywear too, but Lucy hoped not. Her own dressing style had been said to be daring, but the silky black _thing_ in her hands obtained a far higher status than just daring.

Somehow, she found it in her to take a shower and change. Uncomfortably pulling the fabric down so that it covered her rear end, she lay down in the soft, comfortable bed, letting sleep overtake her. All the exhaustion from the previous day's expedition at the art studio rushed into her. All the exhaustion from simply witnessing the lively fights which took place within Fairy Tail walls drained her. But, a smile remained on her face. Happiness engulfed her new family and her new teammates, Natsu, Gray and Happy and warmth flowed through them the same way blood flowed through veins.

She knew that she would never be lonely again as long as she stayed with Fairy Tail, so she would, even if she had to fight dangerous demons to do so. Lucy had friends, never alone – so, she feared nothing, not the demons who ate humans, nor the spirits which cursed humans to kill each other or themselves. She could face anything.

* * *

_Word Count: 3 503_


	3. Chapter III - Case I: Act I

**Demon Hunter**

_Written by Whimsical Symphony_

_Sorry for the late chapter, everyone. I finally got to this one after feeling little to no inspiration for it. I feel really iffy about it – for some reason the wording doesn't sound quite right to me and the feelings don't project as well. I tried rewriting it several times but it never came out right, especially the scene between Lucy and Gray. This seems to be my best attempt so far during the month, so I hope you'll enjoy it. Tell me your thoughts on it if you feel so inclined, whether they be the good, the bad, or the plain ugly – I can take all of it in stride and thank you all for your opinion. It'll help me improve. On to the chapter, in any case._

* * *

**Chapter III – Case I: Act I **

Lucy woke up that morning to a strange feeling almost as if something wet was poured on top of her. Her clothes felt uncomfortably chilly and damp, and her hair felt stringy on her skin. She opened her eyes slightly and just as immediately shut them due to the light blinding her. When she finally got herself together and allowed herself to rise up from the bed exhaustedly, she noticed the further she ascended into a sitting position, the wet feeling got worse. She knew then it was not normal and looked around warily, noting that everything had been flooded in water about knee deep.

"W-what the?" she exclaimed, getting off the bed quickly. "Erza's going to kill me!" And so much as she admired the woman, she didn't want to be annihilated like Gray and Natsu seemed to be often. "What's going on here!" She felt like she was going to keel over from shock.

"I can't believe I'm contracted to such a stupid owner, not even realizing that her power sent me here," a voice said, completely unamused.

When Lucy didn't recognize it, she looked around and a strange figure formed in the air out of light, a mermaid with aqua hair, frighteningly beautiful, a scowl permanently etched onto her face. She carried a large gourd in her hands. Lucy knew this was one of the celestial spirits from her keys - the Water Bearer, Aquarius.

"But even if I did," Lucy said, panicking, "I didn't want you to flood everything!"

"Huh?" Aquarius exclaimed, glaring harshly at the now cowering Lucy. "Just for that, I'll make sure you drown next time, idiot!"

She wondered if it was normal for her to be scolded this way by a Celestial Spirit. "But… where did you get the water from?" Lucy couldn't help but ask this curiously, it was eating her up. Aquarius was supposed to manipulate water, not create it. She had to have gotten it from somewhere.

"If you _ever," _Aquarius started, scowling, looking ready to murder Lucy, "drop my key in the bath again, or drop my key in general, I won't hesitate to make sure you suffer. You summoned me in your sleep and I was near the bath, of course it was natural for me to use that water to flood everything," Aquarius explained, ensuring that the girl in front of her was successfully afraid of her. "And as a last bit of advice, don't summon me in strange places, at all. Got me?"

"Yes, Aquarius," Lucy squeaked and saluted nervously.

Aquarius looked at her once then smirked, turning around. "Act like this and you'll never get a boyfriend. I'm going on a vacation with my boyfriend, so don't summon me for two weeks," she said. "My boyfriend," she repeated and then disappeared in a cloud of light.

"There's no need to say it twice!" Lucy protested, wondering if that was true. Lucy thought of herself as cute, so getting a boyfriend didn't seem like a far off dream. But noticing the look on Aquarius' face, she sighed a little, hoping that celestial spirits couldn't tell the future. Growing up to be a crazy cat lady didn't seem all that appealing.

Especially if they all looked and talked like Happy.

The room door burst open, and Lucy stiffened due to shock. She recognized Erza's hair before she herself came through the door and when her gaze narrowed and pinned itself on Lucy, all she could do was shudder.

"Lucy," she started slowly, "what happened here?" Her voice frightened Lucy more than that poltergeist she'd seen. Any more shock in one day and Lucy knew she would pass out.

All she could do was explain to Erza what happened and hope to dear god that she wouldn't turn her into a Lucy kabab on one of her swords. Knowing Erza, it could be an obvious option when it came to Lucy's fate. The woman wasn't feared for nothing.

* * *

They met at the train station not an hour later. Lucy felt exhausted, she remembered stuttering and stammering, attempting to, in any way, explain to Erza that she didn't mean for her entire room to end up like a new Atlantis. Thank goodness the woman forgave her, surprisingly smiling, happy that it had been a cause of magic and that Lucy managed it (though it had been in the most frightening way possible due to both Erza and Aquarius.)

When they reached the station, Gray, Natsu and Happy were already waiting for them, Gray who had his shirt missing once again. Lucy couldn't help but flush, even though she tried to stop it, knowing it would be a regular occurrence. The two were at each other's throats.

"Oi, Stripper, your shirt's gone missing again. You do it on purpose don't you?" Natsu mocked, looking at the ice mage pointedly.

Gray looked shocked and looked around for his shirt, which he found five metres away near the entrance to the platform. Picking it up and slipping the shirt over his torso, he said, "No I don't, Flame-Brain!" Seeing Lucy and Erza, he immediately stiffened. "I mean, we were joking this entire time right, like _good friends,"_ he emphasized.

"Huh?" Natsu looked confused until he spotted Erza as well to which he stammered, "A-Aye sir!"

"Aye sir!" Happy mimicked, flying straight to Erza with a devious look painted upon his features. "They were fighting, Erza! And I got dragged into it!" The cat looked sad, though obviously fake as he portrayed Natsu and Gray as villainous individuals, and himself as a victim. "Save me, Mistress Erza!"

"Mistress?" Lucy repeated stunned. She vaguely remembered Gray and Natsu saying that the day before as well. She really couldn't blame them all for finding Erza fighting. The moments from the morning just about made her skin crawl just thinking about it.

"If you two so much as put a toe out of line," Erza started, "I'll make sure you regret it. No fighting – get along just like you are now." With a clear warning in her glance, she stepped toward the edge of the platform, waiting for the quickly approaching train which could be felt by the wind currents and constant sound of metal hitting metal, an ongoing _clang _similar to a heartbeat in some ways, a constant rhythm_._ Natsu and Gray gulped and Happy snickered. Lucy wondered just how evil the cat could get.

"Hey, Lucy – how was it staying at Erza's?" Natsu greeted. Gray nodded as well, curious about her reply.

"Other than accidentally summoning Aquarius which made the bedroom I slept in into a mini Atlantis and being scared of the possibility of what Erza would do to me," Lucy said, sending her heart pounding at the possibility if Erza had decided to act otherwise, "it was fine." She shuddered, thinking about Erza's glare and the speed at which it changed into a smile when she accepted her bullet speed train of apologies.

Gray winced, just thinking about it. "Yeah, she can be a little scary. Sorry you had to go through that." He slung a casual arm around her shoulder, and Lucy really felt more secure than she should have, especially since Gray's shirt had mysteriously gone missing again. "But hey, at least you got your magic to work, right?" Lucy smiled a little. The train screeched to a halt and the wind whipped their tendrils of hair in wayward directions. "We should get on the train, huh?"

"He _liiiikees_ you!" Happy mocked, flying around the couple, blowing teasing kisses. Lucy quickly pushed Gray's arm away, who looked somewhat confused – raising an eyebrow, while Natsu laughed.

"S-shut up!" Lucy stuttered, pouting quite noticeably. "Happy!"

The cat seemed to smirk.

The train rushed forward, blowing Erza's red hair in wayward directions like dandelion seeds and red present ribbons that Lucy's mother used to tie her Christmas presents in, then came to a stop.

"W-we should go!" Lucy stammered and stomped off, staying close to Erza, still noticeably flustered.

Natsu elbowed Grey who glared at him and said, "Your shirt, Stripper."

When he noticeably narrowed his eyes, about to retort with a nasty comment, he looked down and noticed that his clothes were indeed missing. Grey gasped and looked around for his button down which went missing again so soon. He quickly picked it off the ground a few metres away. Quickly throwing his shirt on, not bothering with the buttons, he ran after the other three who'd already gone inside the train. He wondered how nervous Lucy felt about her first mission with Team Natsu and strangely enough, was flustered at the thought that he'd acted so casually with her when he didn't even have a shirt on – he only hoped she wouldn't get the wrong impression.

* * *

"So, Erza, what's this mission about?" Gray questioned. When they reached the interior of the train, Gray took a seat beside Lucy while Natsu and Erza took the two opposing ones. They waited for the train to start moving. Happy claimed the table and descended in the air until he plopped down on the wooden surface.

Other travellers on the train looked at Natsu, Erza, Gray and Happy from the corner of their eyes, recognizing them – old business men with combed white mustaches and monocles, young women with curious looks or smitten looks set upon their faces with a look at the two males, old women who knit in their seats, prepared for a long journey ahead of them and young men who dead the newspaper, ready to head to work for the day. Lucy only recognized now how famous they were. It made her a little antsy, how she just forgot, and to her, the people in front of her already were simply Natsu, Gray, Erza and Happy. They were her new family, she hoped, a family that would fly her away from her own. Gray said so, didn't he? He invited her to stay with them and become part of their family. Lucy hoped deep inside he never lied to her – that feeling of family stayed within her, his invitation a core part of her being deep in her heart. If he lied, if he never wanted her in Fairy Tail and took her in our of pity, of Natsu laughed at her mockingly and Erza never felt like giving her the time of day, Lucy wondered how she would react: she would probably become broken.

She imagined them dumping her somewhere and never talking to her once they finished up with this mission.

Unknowingly, she stared at Gray for an awful long time, and he looked back at her, quirking one brow. "What is it?" Looking at her seeming just a bit downtrodden, he lifted a hand and flicked her forehead. Upon her wince in pain and her glare at him, he laughed and said, "See, even when you glare at me like that, you look better than when you look sad. You'll age prematurely if you keep frowning."

Lucy smiled a little and looked away from him, happy that he seemed to care about her and didn't seem like he wanted to leave her in the middle of nowhere like a hitchhiker catching a ride on a truck in the countryside.

Erza gave her a slightly smile too, no more than a twitch in her lips, and Lucy knew then that all of them, but Natsu of course who looked more than a little clueless, knew about her fears and they'd decided to alleviate them put gauze over the wounds in her heart caused by her own Papa.

"An old family located in Shirotsume town have problems where a spirit seems to be haunting their house, causing windows to shatter. Attacks even occur if one of them is by themselves," Erza started, looking around at all of them. With dramatic silence, she began again, solemn, "On the request it said that they see a woman every night, hair live snakes, and eyes missing – just blood pouring out of empty sockets. She scared all the wildlife in the forest that they live next to away, apparently. The couple is worried for their two children as well."

They all shivered, thinking about it. Lucy thought of the Poltergeist and wondered if this spirit looked worse than that one did – it truly was terrifying in more ways than one – the skin that hung limply from it, the way it called her name. Everything chilled her to the bone and made her feel as if she would die.

"If they weren't worried for their kids, I'd probably punch them one," Natsu admitted. "But that does sound pretty freaky. It's amazing they've managed to survive so far." Gray and Lucy nodded in agreement.

Erza looked serious and mentioned, "Master Makarov mentioned something when the family was about to drop off the request though, something strange. The couple came in, and when the man was about to pin the request on our wall, he hesitated, even looked a little sad. Strange for someone who wanted us to get rid of the spirit." She placed a hand on her chin, analyzing the anomaly set before her. Shaking her head, she turned to them, "Anyway, we have to find out what's going on in order to do anything. That requires interviewing before we can figure out how to track it down and make it appear. It's not any kind of simple spirit, so I doubt we can go right in and annihilate it. Many of the smarter spirits know how to hide themselves for when people like us appear."

"Hmm… something's suspicious about this husband though," Gray mused, absentmindedly creating works of ice artwork, small figurines and small pendant shapes, before he would promptly destroy it and create something else. The blue meshed together and tied itself together like threads before it morphed into a new object, clear and catching the light just right like the creation of a rainbow. Lucy watched in awe before Gray flushed slightly and stopped, not used to anyone paying attention to him while he did that all out of boredom, or when he thought about anything really hard, bringing his mind to an odd standstill suspended in space.

"I think so too!" Happy interjected. "He sounds like he's hiding something!" He flew up onto Natsu's shoulder, who welcomed him happily with a large grin.

"Maybe…" Lucy started, "the spirit was someone important to him in the past. It makes sense then why he'd be reluctant to put the posting up." Then, looking at all the eyes on her, she shrank a little. "But then again, what do I know! I may be cute, but I don't have all the answers!" she said hurriedly with a nervous chuckle.

Gray snorted. "You may be saying something important though," he looked at her and smirked, "even if your head size of Fiore." He put an arm around her shoulder and brought her closer to him, now not minding since he double checked to see that his shirt still remained on him and not in some distant land somewhere. "If you keep it up, it might just be too big for your pretty head to handle." He didn't even notice his slip up, or the fact that Lucy flushed like a beetroot at his compliment.

Well, she thought, she knew she was cute, so what was there to be embarrassed about? She tried to brush it off like she would dust off clothing, but it wouldn't budge, staying stubbornly with her.

"Told you," Happy said, grinning evilly, "he _liiikes_ you!"

"Happy!" Lucy protested, making a mad grab for the cat, who was near Natsu. The cat flew out of her grasp, however, and she fell on Natsu directly when the train started to move. He placed his arms around her waist and caught her.

"Lucy, you may want to step away from him," Erza said, giving her a frown. Gray agreed. When she moved to ask why, she got her answer in the form of a sticky substance on her skin and clothes after a sickening gurgling noise.

Natsu vomited on her. The idiot had motion sickness, and apparently, he had it bad.

* * *

Lucy tried hopelessly to try to get the stain out of her shirt, a rather nice one Erza lent to her until she'd had time to go back to her university residence and get her clothes. It still stayed there, and she felt like tearing her hair out in frustration and going back to where they all sat, punching Natsu on the head once, twice, or three times if she felt extra vindictive that day - which she did.

"Stupid stain won't come out!" she muttered, wondering if the wet napkin was only spreading it. A knock came on the door to the bathroom, which she would have appreciated more since it was clean and tidy, but given the circumstances, she didn't feel like it at all. Lucy opened it and saw Gray on the other end.

"No luck getting the stain out?" he said, walking in and taking a look at the puke coloured shirt, which once took on a beautiful shade of pink like cherry blossoms, now yellow and nasty. He frowned and stated, "Damn that looks gross."

"Obviously, Gray," Lucy replied dryly. She looked at the ground and sighed. "Erza lent me this shirt too."

"If you're afraid of her doing anything, she already knows it was all Natsu's fault," Gray supplied helpfully, placing a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her in what little way he could. "She's scolding him right now." And he wouldn't lie and say it didn't make him sadistically content to see Natsu get his ass handed to him. He smirked as he remembered Natsu's apologetic expression as he bowed over and over again to Erza, all while his face still took on an unhealthy green hue, indicating that he remained in danger of puking again.

"It's not that, I just feel bad," Lucy said lamely, tugging at the shirt. "It looked really nice before too."

Gray nodded in response, but then looked her up and down, and his eyes landed again on the nasty yellow stain. "We can't have you looking like that though."

"You're right," Lucy replied, imagining walking around town or meeting their new clients with the less than flattering shirt she had on right now. "Do you think I have to meet them like this?" The thought horrified her, and she turned her pleading expression to Gray, asking him for any kind of solution to her dilemma.

He didn't know why he gave in so instantly to that look, but before he knew it, he found himself shrugging off his shirt, by choice, a rare situation indeed, and handed it to her. "It'll probably be a bit big."

Lucy nodded and said, "Thank you," before she accepted the shirt from him, hugging it to her chest. When he just stood there, she flushed red and pushed him out the door. "I have to change, you know!"

"You've seen me almost naked," he protested jokingly as she shut the door behind him. He instead waited beside the door, leaning against the wall, waiting for her to emerge. His head already hurt from everything that happened when their case hadn't even really started. The spirit bugged him too, and the man who seemed reluctant to post the request on their bulletin. He wondered why and wondered if he would ever know or of the fact even was important. Then, he rejected the last thought, remembering Master Makarov found it suspicious behavior. He'd been their leader for many, many years and during that time, any hunch he had was often taken as fact or truth as clear as a seer seeing the future. He had never been wrong.

Lucy emerged from the bathroom slowly, noticing how on the short sleeved white button down, she clearly drowned in it. The sleeves also went down quite a bit further than they should have, but overall, she found it comfier than the shirt Natsu ruined. And, she could faintly smell Gray's cologne on it – light and airy almost, not too powerful at all, nothing which made her wrinkle her nose. It smelled almost pleasant.

Gray greeted her and then looked her up and down, smirking. "You look like a kid in adult's clothing," he teased and her eyebrows narrowed.

"I look cute though, right?" Lucy threatened him to say it; anything to make her feel a little better about the unfortunate situation as far as it went.

"Vain as ever," he said, before walking back to their seats in the next car. Lucy frowned. "You coming?" he called when she didn't move.

She nodded and followed him back to their seats, while Gray mused a bit – she would never know that he did think she was pretty damn cute in that shirt of his. It looked much better on her than on him, if he dared to be honest about it.

* * *

_Word Count: 3 520_


End file.
